11.18.25: The Broken Robot

Future factories run on robots. Efficient, tireless, uncomplaining. But every now and then, one malfunctions. Not catastrophic, just odd. A robot that insists on humming, or one that arranges boxes into smiley faces. Engineers reset them, but the quirks return. People start whispering: maybe it’s not error, maybe it’s personality. Over time, workers bond with the broken ones, treating them like coworkers. They protect them from scrapping, hiding quirks in daily logs. And slowly, a question spreads: what if imperfection is the first spark of life? Maybe the broken robots aren’t flawed. Maybe they’re evolving.